In one month, Knockdown Center proudly welcomes Tangerine Dream for an extended concert in our Atrium.
The German group has been one of electronic music’s most important acts, bar none. Alongside contemporaries like Kraftwerk and Can, they redefined the modern music landscape at the end of the ‘60s and across the ‘70s. While blues rock, prog and funk dominated the conversation in the US and UK, Tangerine Dream and their cohort went deep in another direction. They harnessed the then-nascent synthesizer and subverted rock instrumentation with heavy use of effects to create eerie and evocative sonic landscapes. One early example is the second track of their debut LP Electronic Mediation, titled “Journey Through a Burning Brain.” To this day it truly sounds like a descent into the psyche. As they honed their craft, Tangerine Dream became to the synthesizer what Jimi Hendrix was to the electric guitar: their crystalline melodies, expressive sound design and bold, ambitious presentations gave form to what others had only dreamed of.
In their early years, they were remarkable for the way they threaded the needle between the avant garde electronic works of composers like Stockhausen and Pierre Henry and the psychedelic movement. Growing up in the ashes of WWII, you can feel a heavy introspection and spiritual yearning embedded in their work from the beginning. Albums like Rubycon paint exquisite tone poems, with eerily spacious passages giving ways to a lush melodicism that can still take your breath away 50 years after it was written.
Tangerine Dream was founded by Edgar Froese, who, until his death, was the group’s only consistent member. But a look at their previous lineups reveals a staggering list of collaborators: Klaus Schulze, Conrad Schnitzler, Supertramp’s Steve Jolliffe and many more. A quick scan of the early members’ solo works alongside TD’s unrelenting output is a testament to the formidable creative energy at play during their foundational era. In addition to releasing one masterpiece after another under the TD banner (Atem, Phaedra, Rubycon and Ricochet all coming out between 1973-1975 alone), Froese kept a similar pace, while Schulze followed his departure from the group with a string of masterpieces across the ‘70s (Cyborg, Blackdance, Timewind and Picture Music mirroring TD’s ascendant run).
Froese and co’s signature use of the arpeggiator to create driving, hypnotic bass sequences has become one of the most iconic and imitated sounds in electronic music. Not only did it fit perfectly with a new era of film (thrillers like Thief, Near Dark, Risky Business and Sorcerer all have landmark scores by the group), but it anticipated the pulsating minimalism of techno. Producers in Berlin, Detroit and London found fertile soil in the TD catalog’s mind-blowing, motor-revving sonics.
Today, Tangerine Dream is led by Thorsten Quaeschning, Froese’s chosen successor. The group’s current form honors the singular legacy of this inimitable group, performing its music with a level of care and precision worthy of a top symphony orchestra. Drawing on the best modern technology available as well as classic, irreplaceable analog synthesizers, Tangerine Dream will bring a high-definition audio immersion that promises to put our newly-installed L-Acoustics system through its paces. If you’ve ever marveled at the elegant richness of a pure synth tone or been swept up by the dramatic grandeur of a classic ‘70s gatefold LP, this one's for you.